Plastic drum with multiple handles

ABSTRACT

A plastic drum is formed with a generally circular sidewall and a bottom. The sidewall includes two sets of handles, one set being disposed near a top rim, and a second set being disposed at an intermediate position below the first set. A third set of handles is disposed at the bottom of the drum. The bottom of the drum is profiled to form a channel that accepts a rail having predetermined at least a predetermined width. Several drums can be turned upside to support rails in their channels and form barriers or traffic lanes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a. Field of Invention

This invention pertains to a plastic drum that is provided with multiplehandles shaped and positioned to allow the contents of the drum to bedumped easily. The drum is further provided with channels acceptingexternal rails.

b. Description of the Prior Art

Drums, particularly plastic drums, are very useful in a number of areas,including, for example, the building industry. Drums can be used fortransporting various dry goods, as well as well liquids. Once thecontents are dispensed, drums may also be used for storing scraps andgarbage.

A problem with prior art drums has been that when they are full andheavy, they are difficult to handle. In fact, if a single person lifts afull drum up, he may dropped the drum and injure himself, or others.Moreover, if a full drum falls over, its contents can spill and drumcould start rolling and cause property damage.

Drums are very common at most construction sites, and like many othercommon objects, they tend to be used for various different purposes,other than storing and transporting articles. For example, since drumsusually have bright colors, they are frequently used upside down torestrict access to certain unsafe areas, and as traffic barriers. Forexample, several drums can be positioned either to cordon off an area,or to demark a safe lane along with pedestrian, and/or motor vehiculartraffic can pass. This function could be enhanced if straight members,such as wood rails, are positioned on top of the drums. However,presently drums have no means to hold such wood rails in place, andtherefore they could be easily knocked off, or even blown off by wind,and cause injuries.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, a drum constructed in accordance with thisinvention includes generally cylindrical (or frustoconical) sidewall anda bottom. The sidewall is terminated at the top with a rim and supportsat least two sets of handles. The first set is formed on the top, nearthe rim. The other set of handles is formed at an intermediate positionbelow the first set of handles.

The bottom is profiled to form another set of handles. These handles areshaped and positioned to allow a person to lift and turn the drum overto empty its contents.

In addition, the bottom is also profiled to form one, or, preferably,two channels. The channels are sized and shaped to accept and form aninterference fit with a rail. Two or more drums can then be turnedupside down and used to hold rails to define a barrier, traffic lanes,etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front elevational view of a drum constructed inaccordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side elevational view of the drum of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a side sectional view of the drum of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a side sectional view of the drum of FIGS. 1-3 turnedupside down;

FIG. 5 shows an orthogonal view of the drum;

FIG. 6 shows another orthogonal view of the drum;

FIG. 7 shows a top view of the drum;

FIG. 8 shows a bottom view of the drum;

FIG. 9 shows an enlarged side elevational view of the bottom of the drumturned upside down;

FIG. 10 shows an enlarged view of the bottom of the drum holding a woodpiece;

FIG. 11 shows an enlarged view of the drum holding two perpendicularwood pieces; and

FIG. 12 shows two drums supporting a wood rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, a drum 10 constructed in accordance withthis invention includes a sidewall 12, a bottom 14, two lateral wings 16and a top rim 18. The sidewall is preferably frustoconical in shape,with the portion disposed adjacent to the bottom 14 having a smallerdiameter than the portion on top, near the rim 18.

As seen in FIG. 8, the bottom 14 is formed of four pie-shaped sections.Two of the pie-shaped sections 22 have two radial walls 26 and anarcuate wall 28. The other two sections 24 have a similar shape but arealso formed with two radial cavities 30. The radial cavities are formedwith two rod-shaped elements or handles 32.

The sections 22, 24 form two perpendicular intersecting horizontalchannels 34, 36. Each channel has two vertical sides and a flat floor asat 38.

Each wing 16 is formed with two sidewalls 40, 42. The two sidewallssupport two handles 44, 46. As seen in FIG. 3, the handles 44, 46 arevertically offset from each other, with handles 46 being disposed closeto the rim 18, as shown.

FIG. 7 shows a top view of the drum 7. As can be seen in this view, drum10 has an inside bottom wall 50 that is relatively smooth andfeatureless.

The drum is preferably molded as a unitary member. Alternatively, someof its members, including some, or all the handles 32, 44, 46 can bemade separately and added later.

The drum 10 can be used for several functions. First, it can be used totransport various materials, including solid, liquid, granular orpaste-like materials. The drum may be provided with a top (not shown)that engages rim 18 and seals the contents of the drum. Once the drumreaches the construction site, its contents are emptied and the drum canbe used to hold scraps and other desirable or undesirable material.

Typically, drum 10 can be fairly large. For example, drum 10 could be32″ high and 24″ in diameter. Thus, the drum may be difficult to handlewhen it is full, especially a single person tries to move it or emptyit. However, in the present drum this problem is eliminated by thevarious handles. The top handles 46 are advantageous because they allowthe drum to be handles easily, when empty. The intermediate handles 44are used to lift and carry the drum. The bottom handles 32 are used tolift and hold the drum as it is being emptied. Preferably, handles 44and 46 are disposed below the rim 18, as shown.

As discussed above, two or more drums 10 can also be used as barriers ortraffic guides. For this purpose, each drum 10 is turned upside down andits channels 34, 36 used to hold a rail. For example, in FIG. 10, a drumis shown holding a rail 60. The channels 32, 34 are sized preferably toform interference fit with the rail 60 to insure that the rail 60 isformed securely and does not fly off or fall.

FIG. 12 shows two drums 10A, 10B constructed in accordance with thisinvention and used to support a rail 60. The rail may be for example, astandard piece of lumber that is nominally a 2×4 or 2×6 framing member.

Numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departingfrom its scope as defined the appended claims.

1. A drum comprising: a sidewall defining an oval space with a top rim;a bottom; a first set of handles disposed near the rim, said first setof handles being designed to facilitate moving the drum; and a secondset of handles near the bottom, said second set of handles beingdesigned to facilitate empting the drum.
 2. The drum of claim 1 furthercomprising an intermediate set of handles disposed below the first setof handles.
 3. The drum of claim 1 wherein said second set of handles isaffixed to said bottom.
 4. The drum of claim 1 wherein said bottom isprofiled to form channels accepting a rail.
 5. A drum comprising: abottom; and a generally cylindrical sidewall formed with a rim on topand terminating with said bottom, said sidewall wherein said bottom isprofiled with a horizontal channel sized and shaped to accept a railhaving a predetermined size.
 6. The drum of claim 5 wherein said channelextends along the whole bottom.
 7. The drum of claim 5 wherein saidbottom is formed with a first and a second channel.
 8. The drum of claim7 wherein said channels are perpendicular to each other.
 9. The drum ofclaim 5 further comprising a first set of handles disposed near said rimand a second set of handles formed on the bottom.
 10. The drum of claim9 further comprising an intermediate set of handles disposed below saidfirst set of handles.
 11. The drum of claim 9 wherein each said set ofhandles includes a pair of handles.
 12. The drum of claim 11 wherein thehandles of each pair are diametrically opposite to each other.
 13. Thedrum of claim 5 wherein said bottom includes projections defining saidchannels.
 14. The drum of claim 9 wherein said bottom is formed with aplurality of projections, said second set of handles being formed in twoof said projections.
 15. The drum of claim 14 wherein said projectionsare pie-shaped.
 16. The drum of claim 15 wherein said channel is definedbetween said projections.
 17. The drum of claim 5 further comprisingwings formed on said sidewall, each said wing supporting two handles.18. The drum of claim 17 wherein there are two diametrically oppositewinds.
 19. The drum of claim 18 wherein each wing is formed of twovertical walls, with the handles extending horizontally between saidwalls.